Core B provides support for the use by Program Project scientists of neutron scattering instruments at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The success of the Program Project, entitled Making Sense of Voltage Sensors, depends almost entirely on the use of neutron diffraction and reflectivity measurements to determine the disposition of potassium channels and their voltage sensors in lipid bilayer membranes.
The specific aim of Core B is to provide technical and training support at the NCNR for Program scientists using neutron scattering instruments, particularly the Advanced Neutron Diffractometer/Reflectometer (AND/R). Technical and training support will be provided by Dr. David Worcester, who is one of the early pioneers of membrane neutron diffraction. Serving as the senior neutron scientist, he will be stationed full-time at the NCNR to work closely with Project scientists to help them plan, execute, and analyze neutron scattering experiments. He will report to and work closely with the Program Director to assure the timely planning and execution of the neutron scattering work proposed in Projects 2 and 3.
Core B is the neutron scattering core for a Program Project that investigates how ion channels gate the flow of ions across nerve, muscle, and cardiac cells in response to changes in voltage across their cell membranes. These voltage changes, called action potentials, are the means by which nerve, muscle, and cardiac cells communicate with each other. Many neuromuscular and cardiac diseases arise from defects in the way action potentials are produced. Results from this Program will help us understand the origin of such diseases.
| Ulmschneider, Martin B; Ulmschneider, Jakob P; Freites, J Alfredo et al. (2017) Transmembrane helices containing a charged arginine are thermodynamically stable. Eur Biophys J 46:627-637 |
| Chen, Yuanyuan; Capponi, Sara; Zhu, Lu et al. (2017) YidC Insertase of Escherichia coli: Water Accessibility and Membrane Shaping. Structure 25:1403-1414.e3 |
| Capponi, Sara; Freites, J Alfredo; Tobias, Douglas J et al. (2016) Interleaflet mixing and coupling in liquid-disordered phospholipid bilayers. Biochim Biophys Acta 1858:354-62 |
| Blasic, Joseph R; Worcester, David L; Gawrisch, Klaus et al. (2015) Pore hydration states of KcsA potassium channels in membranes. J Biol Chem 290:26765-75 |
| Freites, J Alfredo; Tobias, Douglas J (2015) Voltage Sensing in Membranes: From Macroscopic Currents to Molecular Motions. J Membr Biol 248:419-30 |
| Amcheslavsky, Anna; Wood, Mona L; Yeromin, Andriy V et al. (2015) Molecular biophysics of Orai store-operated Ca2+ channels. Biophys J 108:237-46 |
| Cymer, Florian; von Heijne, Gunnar; White, Stephen H (2015) Mechanisms of integral membrane protein insertion and folding. J Mol Biol 427:999-1022 |
| Lorch, Sebastian; Capponi, Sara; Pieront, Florian et al. (2015) Dynamic Carboxylate/Water Networks on the Surface of the PsbO Subunit of Photosystem II. J Phys Chem B 119:12172-81 |
| Worcester, David L; Weinrich, Michael (2015) Hydrostatic Pressure Promotes Domain Formation in Model Lipid Raft Membranes. J Phys Chem Lett 6:4417-21 |
| Capponi, Sara; Heyden, Matthias; Bondar, Ana-Nicoleta et al. (2015) Anomalous behavior of water inside the SecY translocon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:9016-21 |
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